Genre: Science Fiction
Published: June 1, 1961
Pages: 610
Robert Heinlein's Hugo Award-winning all-time masterpiece, the brilliant novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a science fiction classic.
Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earth’s inhabitants forever...
Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earth’s inhabitants forever...
I listened to the audiobook version of this through my library. This is my honest review.
Heinlein is one of my parents' favorite science fiction authors and I wanted to love this book, but I just didn't. And I think part of the reason for that is that I read it as a whole ass adult in 2024 rather than as a teenager in like 1997-1999. The book is very much a product of its time and it just didn't age well at all.
One of my biggest issues with this book was the blatant sexism. I literally cannot fathom reading this book as an adult woman and not rolling your eyes at least a hundred times. I about lost it when the women were described as being essentially indistinguishable from one another.
Beyond that, the only aspect that makes this story science fiction in 2024 is that Valentine Michael Smith grew up on Mars, and that self-driving flying cars exist. All the other technology is either outdated or currently in use (which kudos to Heinlein for predicting things like video calls). But that technology isn't really a major part of the story.
The narration was somewhat monotonous, even during dialogue, making it a bit of a chore to keep track of who was speaking.
Overall I give Stranger in a Strange Land 3.1874 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Robert Heinlein was an American novelist and the grand master of science fiction in the twentieth century. Often called 'the dean of science fiction writers', he is one of the most popular, influential and controversial authors of 'hard science fiction'.
Over the course of his long career he won numerous awards and wrote 32 novels, 59 short stories and 16 collections, many of which have cemented their place in history as science fiction classics, including STARSHIP TROOPERS, THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS and the beloved STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.
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